Archive for the ‘Panoz’ tag

This 1992 Panoz Roadster for sale on Hemmings.com bears chassis #001, making it the very first Panoz constructed. In fact, it began life as a factory test mule, equipped with the Costin-designed independent rear suspension, which was later abandoned for cost reasons. As one-of-one reportedly built with this setup, and as the first Panoz off the assembly line, the car represents a unique part of American sports car history. From the seller’s description:

Panoz Roadster # 001 was built as a factory test car in 1989 and was set up with the original Costin rear suspension design. Most testing was done at the race track and thus the car had been fitted with a Fuel Cell, Fire system, roll cage and 6 point harnesses. By 1992 the Costin rear end was abandoned for the sake of the less expensive and easier to source solid rear axle. To this end only one car with the alloy body, S/S chassis and Costin rear end was ever produced and was sold and titled as chassis #001 as a 1992 model when the company finally started production.White/black interior

The original Panoz Roadster was based on the chassis of the TMC Costin. Only 26 of these cars were built in Ireland before the factory closed. Dan Panoz bought the rights to this chassis and had American designer Freeman Thomas help him style a new body for the car around a stainless steel version of this chassis and Ford Mustang GT running gear. Thomas was quoted as saying Dan wanted something that was neither “too vintage” nor “too 90″s”. He asked what a hot-rodder would do with a Morgan! The design Thomas developed was a cross between an early European sports car, an American hot rod and a track racing car . There were only 44 of these stainless steel framed cars made during 1992-1995. All were basically “built-to-order” cars.

In 1989, a small company began building handcrafted sports cars on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia. Its goal was to recreate the feel of an exotic European sports car while delivering a high degree of reliability and serviceability, and the following year, Dan Panoz launched his first effort, the Panoz Roadster. Though not a name commonly heard in conventional sports car circles, Panoz is alive and well, and the boutique brand is marking its 25th anniversary with a series of limited-production models.

Dan Panoz’s career as an automaker began in Ireland, where he attempted to land a job with the Thompson Motor Company (TMC), conveniently located near a family house in Athlone. At the time, TMC was producing a small sports roadster with a chassis designed by Frank Costin, but sales weren’t progressing at the needed rate. Hearing that TMC was being closed down and liquidated, Panoz bought the rights to use the Costin chassis and returned to the United States to set up a manufacturing operation. In December of 1989, Panoz Auto Development was born.

The 25th Anniversary Edition Panoz Esperante Spyder.

When Dan Panoz came stateside, he brought with him a pair of TMC engineers, and the group set up operations in a converted Department of Transportation salt storage shed. Though the Costin frame served as inspiration for the car the group would ultimately produce, it was not used in the Panoz Roadster that would debut in prototype form just seven months later, in June of 1990. The original car was an odd mix of ideas: Handbuilt, it carried an ambitious price tag, yet offered no provision for weather protection or even cabin heat. Though it boasted a stainless steel space frame and an aluminum body formed with aerospace manufacturing techniques (“superplastic forming,” to be precise), its 5.0-liter V-8 engine was pulled from the decidedly blue-collar Ford Mustang GT.

Six years later, Panoz became the first American automaker to produce an aluminum-intensive vehicle (AIV), when the Roadster received a two-tier chassis constructed of extruded aluminum and a cast-aluminum V-8 engine to match, increasing its aluminum content to 70 percent. The automaker turned to motorsports as well, and Dan Panoz enlisted the help of his father, Don Panoz, to form Panoz Motor Sports. Looking to race-car designer Adrian Reynard for help in designing a competitive platform, Panoz Motor Sports focused its attention to competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2006, the brand realized its first class win in the storied race, achieving a goal that had escaped another American sports car builder and racer, Briggs Cunningham.

Panoz AIV Roadster.

Other sports car models joined the Panoz lineup, beginning with the Esperante Spyder in 2001. Today, Panoz builds the Roadster, the Esperante Spyder (and its higher-specification, carbon-fiber-bodied sibling, the Spyder GT), the track-day only Esperante GTS and the (barely) street legal race car, the one-of-one GTR1. To honor the marque’s 25th anniversary, Panoz has announced limited-production 25th Anniversary Edition models, beginning with the Esperante Spyder, well-equipped from $189,000. If that’s a bit flashy for your tastes or budget, a 25th Anniversary Roadster is in the works, and it’s expected to be priced from $99,000. Though no Panoz model is high-volume, anniversary editions will be limited to just 25 units.

Panoz automobiles are priced on par with European equivalents, but it’s worth pointing out that the company represents a dying breed of automaker: like Britain’s Morgan Motors, Panoz is a small, low-volume automaker rooted in tradition; unlike Morgan, however, Panoz is headquartered right here in the United States.

According to an article at Edmunds Inside Line late last week (I’m still catching up), Southern Motor Company out of Liberty, South Carolina, plans to start selling its Southern 408 358 in 2008. Big deal, you say, they street rodded a 1954 Chevrolet. But Southern also claims to have standardized the pickup for federal crash and emission standards and will sell it with a warranty as a complete vehicle, not as a kit.

Yet the article doesn’t answer a few important questions. First off, Dan Carney, the article’s author, doesn’t mention anywhere that the design of the truck comes straight off the 1954 Chevrolet. So how in the world does Southern plan on marketing and retailing Chevrolet’s design? Did they get permission? Did they license it? Did the design lapse into public domain? Or are they just winging it? The article doesn’t say.

Second, the bodies are all steel. Good. So are they restored original bodies mounted to the new Panoz-designed frames, or did Southern go about restamping entire bodies? Such a move would have been significant news, given the “new” 1957 Chevrolets currently coming out, but we haven’t heard anything of the sort recently.

Finally, not to diss Ford’s new Mustang engine (speaking of, how did Southern get dibs on it when it remains a secret to the rest of us?), but wouldn’t something like an LS2 or LS6 make sense in a Chevrolet design? Actually, maybe that’s why Southern’s not making a big deal about the truck’s design origins – they seem pretty set on using a Ford V-8.

Still, it’ll be an awesome precedent if Southern pulls through and builds these trucks.

UPDATE: Emailed with Peter Dugan of Southern, who had the following responses to my questions:

While it looks like a 54 Chevy Apache, every body structure has been redesigned, and as we originally were considering a Corvette LS2 drivetrain platform we had significant discussion with GM about the design, and it does not appear to be a problem.

The bodies are totally new tools. While the “frankenstein” prototype is an amalgamation of existing structural panels which have been cut, welded and molded from original stock, the final production vehicle will be all new.

The Ford platform came from several discussions with Ford, GM and our engineers at Penoz. We were further informed in our thought process from input by Automotive Insights and our research respondents. Net of it is consumers thought a 400 HP Corvette engine over-gunned the project, and that that much power should be an option, not standard…additionally, from both an engineering and purchasing perspective, the Mustang platform is plenty powerful yet more cost efficient for both us and the consumer, as reparability and warranty expense comes into play…plus, certain state certifications require a recert for any new vet install, while we avoid that with the Ford powerplant…it basically comes down to a combination of consumer input and economics…and if one wants more power we can insert the 500 horse shelby cobra model (for a 12,000 upcharge). In sum, it helps us price it right, while performance is still superb, and its easier to certify.

Well, if GM doesn’t seem to care much about a modified reproduction of its product, then that should open up a ton of repro possibilities…

If your dreams of reality show glory have so far been dashed by:
A.) Your coyote-like singing voice;
B.) A fear of living on a remote island with a chunky naked guy; or
C.) A genuine distaste for maggot fondue.
Then this, Hemmings loyalist, could be your chance to shine.
The producers of a Spike TV reality show about the coast-to-coast open-road rally Bullrun, are looking for a few good racers to star in their production. The only requirements are that: you and your co-driver are 21 or older; you are “obsessed with your car” (their words) and have the ability to annoy others with tales of said obsession (our words); and, for whatever reason, you have a clean driving record.
If any or all of the above describes you, then get over to www.bullruncasting.com, fill out the application and submit some pictures of yourself as well as your ground-pounding racer.
Though the Bullrun is largely contested by rich poseurs in super cars, Mario Andretti actually ran the event in a Magnaflow sponsored Panoz this year, and the event is open to cars of any lineage.

(This post originally appeared in the August 10, 2006, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)

When opportunity knocks, you have to jump on it. NASCAR racing has, for the most part, been a major part of my life since a young age. In fact, for the longest time, stock car racing was the only form of motor sports I would entertain myself with. I’ve been lucky enough to witness some of NASCAR’s biggest legends before they retired: Pearson, Petty (Richard), Allison (Bobby), Gant, Yarborough, Baker (Buddy), and countless others. I witnessed Petty take home his 199th win at Dover in May of ’84, and one of Yarborough’s last wins, in a Ford, at Talladega in ’85. Venturing into other forms of auto racing took time, and within the last dozen years, I have taken a strong liking to road racing, even open wheels.

Having recently moved from my native Connecticut, buried knee-deep in boxes and packing material – not to mention remodeling the house we just purchased – it was a welcomed break to attend the New England Grand Prix at Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park. Fresh from their 24-hour endurance race in Le Mans, 24 teams quickly made their way home for stop number four on the North American continent. After watching the American Le Mans Series on television the last few year’s, I couldn’t wait to witness the Aston Martins battle it out with the Corvettes, and the Porsche/Ferrari on-track combat.

Early morning on the infield hill looking towards Big Bend
Arriving at the 1.54-mile facility at seven in the morning, we found ourselves in thick fog, though it was quickly burning off in the early morning light. The infield hill was quiet, affording us the opportunity to stake out a perfect spot to view the days main event, and six support races. After placing our chairs and cooler, we wondered down the hill and into a quiet paddock – the teams were slowly making their way into the track as well.

The new Penske Porsche team begins to prepare their LMP2 racers: They occupied the front row with drivers Sascha Maassen/Lucas Luhr in #6 and Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas in #7.

The empty paddock provided us the opportunity to get an unobstructed view of some of the other teams that would compete later in the day.

The LMP1 Dyson Racing Lola driven by Chris Dyson and Guy Smith

LMP1 favorite, the famed Audi R8 making its final start with Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello behind the wheel. The car wore all of its victories from its storied career as the R10 waits its turn

In GT2 Class, Jorg Bergmeister, Michael Petersen and Patrick Long would pilot their Porsche 911 GT3

Team Ferrari 430 GTs from Risi Competizione during the early morning hours

Aston Martin DBR9 #007 to be driven by Tomas Enge & Darren Turner

Team car #009 driven by Pedro Lamy & Stephane Sarrazin

As the morning hours progressed, the paddock began to fill with team members and fans alike. By nine in the morning, the first of the support races were underway, and pre-race inspections were in full swing by late morning.

One of the Flying Lizard Porsche 911s, to be driven by Lonnie Pechnik & Seth Nieman, is scrutinized during pre-race tech inspection

The Ferrari driven by Mario Dominguez & Marc Gene waits its turn with inspectors. Note the damage to the right rear fender from contact during Friday’s practice.

Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz brought two Fords.

The morning warm up went without noteworthy incident, and by mid-afternoon, the cars were brought to the front stretch for staging. For a brief 15 minutes, fans were allowed to walk among the racing machines until the call to clear the grid was given. At precisely 3 PM, the engines were started, and the 2-hour, 45-minute sprint race came to a rolling start after two parade laps.

LMP2 Penske Porsche #6 (in 2nd place) leads the LMP1 Audi on the opening lap heading into the Esses, while the rest of the field exits Big Bend.

In GT1, Ron Fellows in the Corvette #3 leads the #007 Aston Martin early in the sprint race. The Aston Martin would eventually overtake the Corvette, and a race-long battle ensued between the two teams.

The GT2 Class was hotly contested throughout the day, especially early on.

Early contact sent the Ferrari to the pits for a tire change relegating them to an 11th place finish overall, and 5th in class

Overall and LMP2 leading Penske Porsche caught the backmarkers early.

The first full-course caution flew when the GT1 Corvette #4 (Oliver Gavin/Olivier Beretta) was side-swiped by Chris Dyson (LMP1 #20) exiting the Esses. Both were able to continue after repairs.

Ron Fellows sits 3rd in class behind the Aston Martins.

After a second full-course caution flew for an accident involving a Ferrari in the back stretch (heavy contact that damaged the wall behind the tire barrier) the Audi found itself in contention for both class and overall victory, here in 2nd place between the two Penske’s entering the Esses.

Meanwhile, the Aston Martins opened a sizable lead over the Corvette, seen nearing the exit of Big Bend. The Corvette would eventually close the gap, split the Astons, and become the best battle on the track in the last 5 minutes of racing.

The Audi fights its way around the LMP2 Porsches, lapping the Penske #6 three times before the finish. Only the Penske #7 finished on the same lap as the LMP1 Audi.

The Audi R8 after taking its 48th overall win, and 50th class victory since arriving in the American Le Mans Series.

The Audi was driving to victory by Allan McNish after passing Romain Dumas in the Penske Porsche with 30 minutes remaining in the race. While it looked like the LMP2 Porsche would upset the Audi favorite, the eventual margin of victory was nearly 12 seconds.

The Audi R8 is to be replaced by the R10 at Miller Motorsports Park, race 5 of the season. The R10 has already seen action, winning at both the 12 Hours of Sebring and the recently completed 24 Hours of Le Mans. Dumas and the Penske team took home the LMP2 class victory.

The Corvette dominance came to an end in the tightest finish of the day in the GT1 class. Aston Martin picked up its first win of the season with driver Pedro Lemy in the teams #009, which crossed the finish line 0.033 seconds ahead of the Corvette driven by Johnny O’Connell.

In GT2, Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long pushed their new #31 Porsche to the class win for Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing. Coming in second was the Flying Lizard Porsche with drivers Johannes van Overbeek and Wolf Henzler.